Medway: 250K gallons of water lost each day

MEDWAY - After months of trying to figure out what has happened to missing town water, officals have now more than doubled their previous estimate of just how much the town is losing on a daily basis.

While inspections and audits have turned up no leads, officials now say the town is losing 250,000 gallons per day, more than double the original estimate of 100,000 gallons per day.

According to Department of Public Services Director Tom Holder, the previous estimate of 100,000 gallons a day reflected the "low end" of demand.

But at a Board of Selectmen's meeting Monday, officials upped their calculations, which reflects the high demand on the town's water system during the summer.

More residents using more water equals more water disappearing from the town’s water system, Holder said.

The town’s water production, including the missing water, is nearing the state DEP’s threshold under the town’s Water Management Act permit, which is about 910,000 gallons per day, Holder said. The missing water accounts for about 24 percent of the town's total water production.

According to the state Department of Environmental Protection’s water conservation standards, 10 percent should be the maximum.

Last month, Holder said the department is looking into two possibilities – unmetered connections and leaks, but so far, no culprit has been found.

On Monday, however, when selectmen were told the number of missing gallons has increased, they expressed their impatience.

"(Selectmen) are being patient at this point, but that patience will eventually wear out," said Chairman Dennis Crowley on Tuesday.

If an answer isn't found within the next two to three months, the town will start looking elsewhere for help, he said.

Holder said the department will soon begin installing measuring devices within the distribution system, which will measure the amount of water being used in certain neighborhoods.

Those numbers will then be compared with the metered numbers.

He said that process, which will coincide with several water infrastructure projects, is costly, but is one of the town's last resorts.

"Now we have to ratchet it up and do a couple more things that are more labor-intensive," Holder said. "At this point, we have to do it."

Zachary Comeau can be reached at 508-634-7556 and zcomeau@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @ZComeau_MDN.